Breastfeeding men project

Am I the only one who read the thread title and thought to herself, Christ, don't we do enough for them already? Men need us to breastfeed them now, too?

Richard Madeley describes it as, absurd

www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-6694823/Richard-Madeley-demonstrates-use-male-BREAST-pump-Good-Morning-Britain.html

Perhaps we need a new name for PND in men and a new acronym?
They may not have all the hormones contributing to mental illness, but they still have impacts on sleep, dealing with a screaming baby and emotional wife, having to go back to work (in most cases) after only 1-2 weeks off work, working while sleep deprived etc, dealing with the shit the patriarchy tells them they should or shouldn't be doing as dads when their natural instincts is to be nurturing?
What should we call it?
NPDA? New Parent Depression and Anxiety? NBAD? New Baby Adjustment Disorder? PAD? Parental Anxiety and Depression?

Medical professionals call it PND in both men and women. The causes may be different (hormonal for women, situational for men), but both parents need support. Organisations like PANDAS recognises this.

the mother's ability to breastfeed could be compromised by this daft scheme.

And that this would tend to increase the mother's chance of developing PND. But who cares about that.

I'm not sure that you can say PND is real in men. The natal surely refers to the women who physically bore the child, she is the 'natal' person who is referenced., and the fact that the child cane from her body is surely relevant to various physical changes and challenges that can contribute to PND.

Not saying that new dads can't face significant mental health issues, but calling it PND seems a bit like those men who say "we're pregnant."

Ever since giving birth I've been unable to run without wetting my pants. My husband never complains but I know it makes him feel left out and depressed. Is there anything you can do for him Msdesignstudent?

Why is bbc reporting on this? Nothing else of value to report?

There was a thread about this a while ago, I may be able to find it...

This design student is a very good self promoter. This is all fantasy and nonsense, she knows nothing about the science and the medical requirements for this. It would never be possible, approved or recommended.

I doubt this student is aware of the deep-seated sexism at the heart of this idea. Women are different to men. There is no need to try to simulate what women do, men can support and facilitate.

This is ridiculous.
But PND in dads is real. Parenthood is a big adjustment for both parents, as are new additions to the family.
If a dad is struggling with mental health issues after a new baby, the answer is not in dosing him up with medicine so he can produce milk? WTF? Bottle feeding, bathing, playing, cuddling, all of these are ways to bond with baby, without trying to change nature.

What Jelly said. Men do not need to feed babies in order to bond with them. Sensible men realise that it is not all about them and muck in with a good share of the baby care and- hey presto, the bonding happens of its own accord.

Incidentally, I loathe the appropriate of post natal depression to apply to men. I don't doubt that some men suffer depression after the birth of a child, nor that it should be taken seriously, but what they experience is so fundamentally different from what a woman experiences that it cannot possibly helpful to either men or women to elide the two.

I was waiting for the presenter to ask about the effect of the hormones on the baby, but instead she asked about the possible effects on the man

If men are suffering postnatal depression how is drugging them with weird hormones supposed to help them? (never mind the baby)

IME there is so much to do with babies anyway, that any hands on man would have loads of opportunities to bond. There is always baby sniffing

I’m going to go against the grain and hypothesise that this hip young design student wasn’t really thinking of new fathers and their user needs at all, but if her own squeamishness at the idea of being just another mammal that could get pregnant, give birth, and lactate to feed its young. If she can get a bloke to do it too, she’ll feel more equal.

Apparently she’s not realised that formula would do most hands-on dads just as well. (Bless.)

I saw this and was mega wtf @dh

Men get pnd same as women (they can get depressed sure but don't call it pnd please)
Men feel left out
Way to stop them feeling left out is chestfeeding
No mention how this works re establishing /maintaining supply
Or if the drugs are safe for baby
Or why if dad is depressed cos he feels left out then answer is to disengage baby from mum breast and hand it over for some hormonally iffy man milk
No mention of why this is best solution rather than 8 trillion easier ones
Inability to use word 'breast'
Women can get pnd but mumble mumble missed that but not v important anyway probably

I said to DH if they said right here's these bulls we've fed them a load of drugs and milked then who wants some there would be deafening silence

But apparently for human baby this is fine

will the mother be left to pick up the pieces?

Yes. As per fucking usual.

Incidentally, about 25 years ago we knew an American bloke who had a contraption which I think essentially allowed him to fix a tube to his nipple so the baby could 'suckle' - but at least that was either pumped proper breast milk or formula. 'Problem' solved, without dodgy pharms, a quarter of a century ago.

And how do the mothers fit into the Frankenstein nightmare?

I have a 10 day old that I’m breastfeeding, I’m not expressing as apparently that affects supply. If the horror show of an experiment fails will the mother be left to pick up the pieces?

Breast milk is food, not emotional adhesive.

I’m just...aghast I suppose. Why in hell would any decent mother or father want to experiment on their baby? Why would any medical professional support it?

I am so fucking sick of shit like this popping up. The avalanche of batshittery pouring down at the moment is directly because of boundaries and safeguarding being weakened. People with bad intentions see the cracks and use the situation to their advantage. Suddenly it’s completely fine to go on the BBC news and suggest experimenting on babies.

I’d love to know this OP: did anyone at the BBC even mention the baby? Did anyone push this young woke idiot on what the impact was on the baby? The breastfeeding relationship with that inconvenient woman in the corner who grew and birthed the baby? What about that poor unfortunate mother, does she get a say or is she expected to smile from the sidelines as her breasts grow rock hard and leak milk. Proper, wonderful, magic milk that is specifically designed to feed that baby. I am so angry I could cry.

I also want to add that I never bf my children - and yet strangely enough, they are still my children - and I have still bonded with them.

Perhaps I'm biased, but we need to remove the language around this - breastfeeding is not about bonding. It is more than possible to bond with a child without breastfeeding. As Jelly points out above - there are a multitude of ways and it's nonsensical to suggest that the only way a parent can bond with their child is via the medium of breast milk!

This is about bloody men. Again.

Men cannot breastfeed babies, even with domperidone. Read this doctor's analysis of the last "breastfeeding man" story.

Why is this reminding me of a Robert De Niro scene in "Meet the Fockers"?

I would love to post the photo of dh with our newborn dc tucked inside his shirt. The incredulous joy on dh's face. That's bonding.

Or the pic of dh in an armchair, with our dc sprawled fast asleep on his chest. The protective arm lightly curled around the baby, while the other is wrapped around the toddler. That's bonding.

Or the pic (that is only in my mind) of dh puking because he spent the night in our puking child's bed, comforting them, rather than let pregnant me be exposed to D&V. That's bonding.

Or the full fridge/empty laundry basket/freshly baked bread that he regularly left in the house before leaving for work when the dc were little. That's bonding.

I asked him whether he would have wanted to breastfeed the dc to bond with them. His reply: "That's not bonding. That's distorted."

How fucking stoopid.